In All Fairness
by Tyori
Summary: The world isn't fair. Ed knew that. Yet he still found it irritatingly unfair when the gate took him to the wrong damn place.


**Beginning and original story Idea by Moon Ecstasy~!**

"In all fairness, I really don't think he meant to hang you upside down like that."

"Oh? Then what the fuck _did_ he mean to do?!"

"Merely keep you from being hit by the car."

"A simple shove would have sufficed! Now if you would get me the fuck down I think I might be a little more forgiving."

Professor Xavier sighed quietly as he turned to the nervous O'Brien in the quiet street. The boy was glancing around him in awe at the people milling about that had frozen in motion when Xavier had noticed the younger boy loose a volley of pyknotic power to save another boy who had not noticed the red Impala barrelling toward him.

Of course he had halted time before anyone noticed but since this was the first time O'Brien had seen it done he was a bit shocked. The blonde hanging upside down had widened his eyes before cussing in a way that Xavier was sure would make Logan impressed.

"O'Brien, just breathe deeply and focus on the power inside you, let him down slowly." O'Brien bit his lip nervously but nodded. The boy in the air fell with a thud that made Xavier and O'Brien wince.

"Stupid, fucking, ghah..." the blonde muttered as he dragged himself up to glare at them, "That hurt!"

"I... I'm sorry," O'Brien mumbled, looking close to tears. This seemed to take the anger out of the other boys sails.

"Yeah, well, so long as it doesn't happen again." He said gruffly brushing street grime off his strange black clothes and red jacket. "Who are you anyway." He asked looking around at the eerie, motionless street.

"My name is Professor Xavier, of the Xavier School for the gifted. This is Roger O'Brien. We, as you can tell by now, are mutants." He opened his (mind reading powers?) to get a gauge on how the blonde would react, only to be surprised since he could not read the boy at all. Was the boy a mutant as well? It would explain the gold eyes.

"Mutants, eh?" the boy eyed them askance, "not the first time I've heard that word since coming here." What did he mean by that, Xavier wondered, "the name's Edward Elric."

* * *

"Okay, so cars are dangerous. Got it. Anything _else_ you want to let me know?" Ed asked tiredly, leaning back to drape his arms over the back of the couch. "Like, maybe give me a bit more information concerning Mutants?"

He had been briefed, as it were, in Xaviers office but he still found some of the students' powers surprising, so logically, he assumed he hadn't quite grasped the specifics. He got that there was a war between the Mutants and the Humans, probably more than they gave him credit for, but little girls running through walls... And one girl he accidentally spooked into shrieking at him; turned out she was a siren or something. Damn near wrecked his hearing and everyone else's in the building!

"Mmm... Nah. Humans hate us, we're trying to live in peace. They try to kill us, we fight them off. They attack again, we fight them off again. Not much to it." Logan tilted back his beer to get the last drops from where he sat hunched over on the coffee table. "... And I suppose you're a chimera?" "What? Do I really look like that?" Logan asked, lowering his beer and squinting at him like he was an unexpected anomaly. Which he was.

"I've met a few Chimeras who looked exactly like a normal person. Though you remind me of a dog guy I met once." Ed broke eye contact with a little sad grin. Poor Bastard died not long after their meeting though. Murdered.

Logan caught the look and studied Ed a second before standing to go back to the kitchen for another beer from his secret stash. "I take it he didn't do so well. Either that or he eloped with your girlfriend." WINREY?

"She's not my girlfriend!!! ... and no, they never even met." He added casually, clenching his teeth regardless. Logan just stared for a second before deciding not to go there. "So he died then. Want a beer?" "I'm underage, you know." "So do you want one or not?"

* * *

Ed sat bolt upright in bed, panting and sweating, twitching as he clenched his shoulder. Ah, the ghost was really aching after that dream. It always did when he remembered how he lost his limbs. He lifted his knees to his forehead and massaged his leg with his real hand. It hurt.

Walking into the kitchen, he seriously contemplated searching out Logan's beer stash to make himself feel better, but a flickering from the living room caught his attention. The TV was flicking between channels, but from where he was, Ed could see the remote.

"Another mutant, I expect." He sighed quietly, opening the fridge. Maybe a sandwich? He was feeling unusually at home already. "Yep." The reply drifted in with bored tones. "You nocturnal?" He stood, closing the fridge and making his way to the couch empty-handed.

A small boy he sat beside wore owl glasses that made his eyes appear larger than they were as they turned to blink at him. "No, I don't sleep." They stared at each other with equally disinterested looks. Finally "Huh. That sucks. And you've got a hundred channels with nothing on either to top it off." The boy nodded, and Ed felt the urge to check the fridge again.

"Want to play a game then?" "Like what?" "You look like a chess kid." It was clearly an observation, not a suggestion. "I guess... it's better than snakes and ladders. Or rock 'em sock 'em" The shrug was hardly even half-hearted. What was 'rock 'em sock 'em'? "Fine. Continue surfing. It looks like loads of fun." "It is. I'm watching twelve shows right now; it makes it more interesting. I wish there were less commercial breaks."

He grinned. Ed leaned back with a smirk; this kid was beyond him. On separate screens, Ed probably could, but all on one and switching between them as fast as the kid... _while_ carrying on a conversation was definitely outside of Ed's capabilities. The kid didn't seem to care about anything going on around him

Ed focused on the flickering screen, willing his arm and leg to stop pestering him. After a while, he realized he _could_ follow a lot of the programs the kid was watching. Mostly cartoons with a thrown in soap, and an action movie about kung-fu. Fascinating.

Not really. Ed was rudely awakened by someone ruffling his hair. "You shouldn't sleep out here, little boy. The others will come poke you if you stay around much longer." He looked up from his lifted knees and opened him mouth to shriek about not being something so tiny and poke-able like a harmless kitten, but his words caught in his throat and he closed it again.

"Shouting will wake them up faster...!" The girl warned. She wasn't much taller than him... in fact, she was definitely younger. Ed growled but noticed the boy was gone. "Hey, were did four-eyes go?" he asked with vague irritation, anger forgotten _for now_.

"He likes to watch the sun rise with Storm." "Who now?" Everyone was named so oddly here. "She's the... Vice-Principle. She controls the weather." She explained awkwardly. Ed could understand. It was hard giving titles in a school where it was unclear what ones title would be. Especially considering he thought of the school in a military mindset, meaning she would be like... a captain or general.

"God... everyone here has powers..." He reminded himself, kneading his forehead irritably. "Don't you?" "Not- I-... urg." He growled and went to check the fridge again groggily. Still nothing. Even in _this_ world nothing new ever spawned in the fridge. "What's your name?" "Edward." "What's your _real_ name?" He looked over his shoulder. That... was _not_ the little girls voice.

A face royal blue in colour, with contrasting yellow eyes and slicked back orange hair was inches from his own, causing him to open his mouth to shriek again. Once again he was stopped. "I told you. Shouting will wake them up." The little girl repeated, watching thoughtfully as she lightly swished her frilled pajamas back and forth.

"Who are you?" Ed asked quietly. "Mystique." She answered, closing the fridge door slowly. "Though it is polite to give ones name when asked, I _did_ happen to ask first." She reminded.

"You're naked...!!" Ed observed, staring. She frowned. "Sorry." He'd have to get used to expecting everything. "I guess by 'real' you'd mean a given name relating to your powers. ... In that case... I go by Full Metal." "And yet you are clearly not." She motioned to him.

"It's just what they call me, okay?" Ed was starting to get irritated as well. Her superior-than-thou body language was adding to his mistrust, but the little girl seemed untroubled, so this must just be another teacher or something. A blue... naked... teacher with huge... tracks of land...

"I'm up here." Her voice was almost metallic in the way it over-lapped itself so much, and he forced his eyes to hers, trying desperately to deny the blush that was eating at his face. "I can't help it; they're just _out_ there!" He whined in his demanding tone, like he was accusing her.

"What are your powers?" She asked, dismissing the matter quickly. "I'd ask you, but I suppose you won't tell me first this time." "It's only fair." He took a quick breath and sprung to his feet, thankful he was only wearing pajama shorts as he clapped his hands together and pulled the metal of his right arm into a blade.

"Pretty cool, huh?" He taunted. She could be blue and boobular all she wanted; he had creating awesome skills. "As you said, Myst, fair's fair." He raised the blade to point at her in challenge. She looked at him with amusement before her skin rippled almost like it was scales or flat needles turning over and reshaping to reveal a new image; of himself.

"Pretty cool, huh?" She mimicked his voice, putting a hand on her hips and wiggling her metal fingers curiously in front of her face. "I'll say. You look pretty handsome if I do say so myself." Ed said seriously. He had to keep his guard up around her. She rippled out the extra blade and pointed it at him.

"Lookin' to start a fight?" Ed asked, frowning. Did he really look that stand-offish all the time? "No. Actually, I'm here to recruit you." They lowered their weapons at the same time. "Oh? What for?" "For the resistance of course. Did they not mention it to you?" "Uh... No?" Mystique smiled cattishly and returned to her previous naked form to extend a hand.

"We are mutants who fight the Humans who come to kill us. Won't you defend our species, Full Metal?" "... Only if you add 'Alchemist' to the end of that. It sounds weird when you call me just the fist part." "Full Metal _Alchemist_." Ed thought for a moment then grinned and took her hand to shake. "Deal! I guess knockin' a few heads could lessen the boredom." Mystique smiled.

* * *

"Did I ever mention you look evil when you smile?" Ed pointed at Mystique as he put his feet up on a table he conveniently transmuted for himself. He had by now come to realize that she was not the annoying green-haired kid he first thought. They may share the same power, but good lord, Mystique was unmistakably female. Bossy, bitchy, and above all, right. Er... wait. She's for sure not Envy. Good enough.

She no longer put up with his crap when he challenged her, and the little girl had to explain that she was just really mistrustful since the last person she fully trusted discarded her without a second thought. Oh. Guess he could understand that.

Ed didn't mind following her orders since he might be able to use her powers to get back to his home world/ time whatever. It was like answering to a sexy female not-at-all Mustang figure, and it gave him a small comfort as well as homesickness to function in a military-like unit.

"Yes." Was all she said from the pilot's seat. "Full Metal...!" She suddenly ordered. "Ma'am!" "Jump ship." "What? Do you know how high we are?!" "There's a stealth aircraft just under us. Take them out." "Understood." He stood with a designated sigh and did a quick stretch before heading to the emergency hatch, rolling his head as he made sure his gloves were on tight. Wouldn't do to loose his hold on a ship so far off the ground.

"You have about forty seconds before they send out a distress signal." She warned, and Ed grinned as he snapped on some goggles and pulled on a black bulletproof vest. "Be back in twenty." He tore open the door and jumped with rope in hand. "He's rather violent, isn't he?" The little girl asked quietly from her seat beside Mystique.

He landed heavily and used his alchemy to form a hole in the roof, through which he dropped fairly gracefully for a boy with mismatched limbs. He'd have to find a mechanic soon; he was absolutely _positive_ that he had grown an inch or two since his last checkup. He knocked out a few people before heading to the front for the pilot.

He blinked in surprise and a little worry when someone stepped between him and his target. It was... Logan? "Hey, what are _you_ doing here??" "I was going to ask you the same thing!" Ed dodged the metal claws with interest. So _this_ was Logan's power? "Hey, what are you doing?!" "I'm throwing you out!" This time Logan grabbed him by his collar and threw him violently into the wall., stabbing through the metal in his arm.

"Ow..." Ed groaned; even though it wasn't a real limb, he swore to god it still hurt when it got damaged. "I don't know what made you switch sides, but you've really turned bad if you're attacking innocent kids now." The glare Logan was giving him was bordering on feral and Ed had to do a double-take. "W... what?" "This is just a training mission for the kids learning to fly. What did you think we were doing?" Ed fell silent. Well... He hadn't bothered asking. When had he started blindly following orders?

"I dunno." Was all he could manage. He shoved the older man back and flipped back to his feet, nimbly dodging Logan's attacks to pull himself back onto the roof. "Get back here!" Logan jumped to grab the edge of the hole, but Ed resealed it. Something was wrong here. Why would Mystique ask him to take down a craft filled with rookies? Clearly she was not part of the school after all.

"What happened?" The little girl asked as he pulled himself back in and shut the door forcefully. "I need a mechanic, that's what happened." Ed flopped onto his back, feeling his arm where wires and even the frame work had been sliced clean through. "... Wolverine." Mystique observed after glancing back at him. She sped up and changed direction. "They're likely going to attack us now to keep us occupied while help arrives."

"No," Ed stood and made his way to the empty seat to sit down tiredly and put his head in his hand "They won't. Just keep going." He had a lot of questions, and he wasn't leaving or following orders agail until he knew the answer to all of them.


End file.
